Swati Maliwal attacks Atishi; says her family fought a long battle to save Afzal Guru

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal launched a scathing attack on the Aam Aadmi Party and Atishi, who is set to become the new chief minister of Delhi. He alleged that the Delhi minister’s parents had written clemency petitions seeking reversal of the death sentence of Afzal Guru, who was convicted in 2001 for attacking Parliament.

The AAP leader called Atishi a “dummy CM” and said, “May God protect Delhi.” She also shared a purported letter, which she claimed was a mercy plea written by Atishi’s parents.

“Today is a very sad day for Delhi. Today a woman is being appointed as Chief Minister of Delhi whose family fought a long battle to save terrorist Afzal Guru from hanging. Her parents wrote mercy petitions to the honourable President to save terrorist Afzal Guru. According to them, Afzal Guru was innocent and was accused of a political conspiracy,” Maliwal said in a post on X.

“Though Atishi Marlena is just a ‘Dummy CM’, this issue is related to the security of the country. May God protect Delhi!” she added in the post.

Earlier today, Aam Aadmi Party national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal proposed Atishi’s name as his successor in a meeting of party MLAs. She was subsequently elected as the leader of the Delhi AAP Legislative Party, sources said.

Kejriwal made the proposal at a legislative party meeting at his residence in the national capital and the MLAs supported him, sources said.

Kejriwal is expected to submit his resignation to Lt Governor VK Saxena at 4.30 pm today, after which Atishi is likely to take oath.

Notably, Swati Maliwal, a Rajya Sabha MP from the Aam Aadmi Party, accused Kejriwal’s former aide Bibhav Kumar of assaulting her at the CM’s residence. Bibhav was arrested by the Delhi Police but was released on bail recently.

Since the episode broke out, Maliwal and AAP have been at loggerheads with the former making serious allegations at the party. She did not leave the party and AAP did not expel her either.

Earlier, Delhi Chief Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj had rejected the possibility of Sunita Kejriwal, the wife of the Delhi Chief Minister, succeeding Arvind Kejriwal.

When asked about Arvind Kejriwal’s potential successor, Bharadwaj said, “I don’t know whether it will be someone from the cabinet or from the MLAs. But we will let you know. As far as I understand Arvind Kejriwal’s politics, I don’t think it will be Sunita Kejriwal. She is not interested.”

On Saturday, Kejriwal announced that he would step down and not return to the prime ministerial post until the people of Delhi declare him “honest”. He also called for polling in the capital to be brought forward to November this year, ahead of the scheduled February elections.

Kejriwal stated that if he were re-elected by the public, it would serve as a “certificate” of his honesty. He added that he would push for early elections along with those in Maharashtra.

The 54-year-old leader’s announcement came two days after he was released from Tihar Jail after the Supreme Court granted him bail in a corruption case related to the alleged scam related to Delhi’s excise policy.

The Supreme Court also imposed certain conditions on Kejriwal’s release, including that he was not allowed to make any public statements on the case and that he had to attend all court hearings unless he was exempted.